Mexico by Way of Chicago

While in the windy city last week, Alison, Stacy and I found ourselves with a few hours of free time — right around lunch. So I whipped out my BlackBerry and emailed Babs Chernetz, our esteemed food editor. I knew she'd have suggestions for where we should eat.

I was right! After protesting that she didn't have her notes on Chicago eateries with her at the office, she listed half a dozen restaurants she thought we'd like. When she got to Frontera Grill, I knew we'd found our place. For starters, she had amazing things to say about Rick Bayless's Mexican restaurant. Second, I have at least 3 of his salsa varieties in my fridge at home, and was psyched about visiting the restaurant in person!

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It was delicious. We started with Ceviche Yucateco (steamed shrimp and calamari tossed with lime, orange, habanero, avocado, jicama and cilantro) and really had to hold ourselves back from picking up the bowl and drinking the liquid once we'd eaten all the fish and veggies.

Next we shared the Queso Fundido, a mix of artisanal Jack cheese, roasted peppers, chorizo sausage and oregano. Alison floated the idea of asking the waiter to hold the sausage on my behalf, but Stacy wouldn't hear of it. I couldn't blame her — whenever possible, I like to taste food the way the chef intended it. So, I ate around the sausage. (You didn't think I'd skip this dish altogether, did you?)

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As you can see, the queso came with soft tortillas and two different salsas (garlicky three-chile and roasted tomatillo). Really, it was wonderful. We barely had room for our main courses. In an effort to restrict my cheese consumption (oh, my cholesterol levels!), I ordered the catfish tacos. Lucky me: they came with the most delicious guacamole I've ever eaten! Just the right amount of white onion, and what tasted like either sun-dried or fire-roasted tomatoes. Had I known, I might have just ordered an appetizer-sized portion of chips and guac as my main meal!

Stacy ordered the ceviche trio as her main, and Alison had the Tortitas de Requeson — fried ricotta cakes with wild nettles. So unusual, and again, just absolutely scrumptious. Eager to get the full experience, we also ordered two desserts to share: a lime chess pie, which was the perfect balance of sweet and tart, and a mango-and-strawberry shortcake, drizzled with Oaxacan chocolate. Just perfect.

So I'm with Babs: next time you find yourself in Chicago, try to book a lunch at Frontera Grill. You won't be disappointed.